Course Information

We are all (including tax practitioners) getting older, and the need for effective retirement planning has never been greater. This course is essential for participants who wish to attain a comfortable retirement for themselves and their clients by maximizing tax-saving strategies. This presentation integrates federal taxation with retirement planning. The course will examine tax and savings strategies related to determining retirement income needs, wealth building, capital preservation, and estate distribution. The result is a unified explanation of tax economics that will permit the tax professional to locate, analyze, and solve the financial aspects of retirement. Designed to improve the quality of services to clients and the profitability of engagements, this program projects the accountant into the world of retirement planning. This course will give the participant practice in analyzing problems, developing solutions, and presenting final personal retirement plans to clients. The emphasis is on practical simplicity in dealing with the self-employed and highly compensated individual. Retirement income needs are calculated; net after-tax Social Security benefits are determined, and distribution options from IRAs and retirement plans are explored. Special consideration is given to the tax treatment of the home and business on retirement. Buy-sell agreements are discussed and eldercare planning is examined.

• Identify short-term financial goals and investment purposes and recognize the importance of retirement income and money management.
• Determine the tax consequences of title holding methods by specifying ways to hold title to assets starting with the simplest and most direct ways to hold property.
• Identify money management specifying income types and cite reporting requirements for taxable income.
• Determine how to convert income into assets by purchasing investments, specify tax-advantaged investments, and determine the economic impact of accelerating deductions and postponing tax liability.
• Identify obstacles to the preservation of wealth, determine net worth using a balance sheet, and select assets and liabilities for an inventory on which to base financial goals.
• Specify why individuals should take primary responsibility for investment planning including necessary self-education and determine basic income tax planning tactics.
• Identify the benefits of tax deferral, cite the tax deferral advantage under §1031 listing its elements, specify the related party §1031 restrictions identifying prohibited parties or entities, determine the exchange restrictions on partnership interests and personal property, and recognize delayed exchanges.
• Identify retirement plan design and recognize popular methods for providing for retirement.
• Specify the requirements for an installment sale, determine the variables affecting §453 availability, and recall how to use a property option to receive income and postpone tax.
• Identify tax credits specifying qualified expenses, limitations, and restrictions and specify the deductible and nondeductible interest types.
• Identify business vehicle operating costs using (or switching between) the actual cost method or the standard mileage rate,  recognize the application of R.R. 90-23 and R.R. 99-7 to the deduction of temporary work location costs, and recall the business entertainment expense statutory exceptions.
• Determine MACRS business asset depreciation and identify sources of §172 net operating losses (NOLs) recognizing carryback and carryover rules.
• Recognize basic formats for income splitting, determine the tax treatment of employee and self-employed business expenses, particularly home-office expenses, and identify the tax opportunities available to an unincorporated business including retirement plans, casualty losses, and bad debt deduction.
• Determine the uses and tax characteristics of regular and S corporations, specify initial §351 formation and capitalization issues, and recognize the use of partnerships to split income among partners.
• Identify the taxation of child income and the dangers of the “kittie tax” and recognize the use of educational bonds.
• Identify tax elimination techniques by recognizing the  §121 home sale exclusion and specify the tax elimination aspects of family transactions such as gifts, inheritances, and even divorce.
• Recognize employer deductions as a means to increase tax-free incentive-based compensation for employees by identifying excludible fringe benefits under §132 including employer paid accident & health coverage, determine how to value fringe benefits, specify the proper reporting of reimbursed and unreimbursed business expenses under accountable and nonaccountable plans.
• . Identify the goals and purposes of asset protection recognizing objections some people have about shielding assets from creditors, cite reasons for asset protection and situations that put assets at risk, and define asset protection using the primary concepts of insurance, asset placement, and statutory protections.
• Recognize the importance of creditor types associated with asset protection and fraudulent transfers.
• Determine the degree and necessity of asset protection using net worth and asset values on a balance sheet, identify the ways that insurance and buy-sell agreements can offer asset protection, and recognize the asset protection advantages and disadvantages of ownership formats and entities.
• Identify what constitutes post-nuptial and premarital agreements stating how they relate to divorce settlements and divisions.
• Recognize the importance of preparing for retirement and summarize the basic guidelines of retirement planning, including common pitfalls and misconceptions of retirement.
• Determine retirement using the major levels of retirement and key questions that have financial and personal ramifications.
• Identify retirement costs and income needs of clients based on their current budget, recognize tax savings strategies, and identify guidelines when purchasing investment assets.
• Determine how Social Security funds are invested and paid, specify the system’s mechanics, list qualified Social Security participants determining their benefit eligibility, identify the requirements to receive Social Security. and list its multi-step calculation process.
• Recognize Social Security taxes, their tax rates, and covered earnings allowing better retirement planning.
• Specify the eligibility requirements of Social Security disability benefits and survivors’ benefits, and determine what constitutes Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B recognizing their qualifications.
• Identify qualified deferred compensation plans specifying their benefits,  contributions, and ERISA restrictions and specify the requirements for the basic forms of qualified pension plans.
• Recall the variety of qualified plans, identify employee contributions, and recognize plan termination rules.
• Differentiate self-employed plans from qualified plans for other business types, and identify the requirements of IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLEs, and tax-free Roth IRAs.
• Identify popular ways to receive distributions from a retirement plan or an IRA including lump sum and annuity distributions and their respective tax treatment options.
• Recognize the key components of rollovers that can be used to reinvest cash or other assets without including the amount in income.
• Specify the tax consequences of taking premature distributions stating how to avoid the 10% penalty.
• Identify the minimum distribution rules and recognize the ability of participants to make charitable contributions of retirement balances.
• Recognize the postponement of income with deferred compensation arrangements and specify the IRS’s position on such arrangements stating the impact of constructive receipt and economic benefit concepts.
• Determine the mechanics of unfunded and funded plans stating the use of company assets or bookkeeping accounts and specify the tax consequences of establishing a nonqualified plan.
• Specify reasons to purchase life insurance, recognize the tax treatment of life insurance proceeds, and determine the gift tax associated with transfers of life insurance policies.
• Identify the pros and cons of the various types of insurance policies, specify the reasons for using an irrevocable life insurance trust in an estate plan, and differentiate deferred and private annuities.
• Determine what constitutes entity purchase and cross-purchase buy-sell agreements recognizing tax and legal advantages.
• Determine the relationship between home sales and the capital gains rates.
• Recognize the key elements and application of the §121 home sale exclusion and identify safe harbor regulations associated with the home sale exclusion.
• Identify the disallowance deductible moving expenses under §217.
• Recognize the unlimited marital deduction and its effect on the gross estate and specify the applicable exclusion amounts for various years of death.
• Identify the relationship of simple wills to probate and why some plan to avoid it.
• Specify various types of estate trusts and their use to accomplish planning goals, recognize the benefits and drawbacks of the primary dispositive plans, and determine the advantages and disadvantages of private annuities.